Sometimes it's really easy to stuff your face and eat a lot of junk when you're at a party. Try one of these healthy and tasty snacks for your Superbowl party! Thank you Beachbody for sharing these snack recipes.

Preparation: 1. Place chickpeas, tahini, oil, lemon juice, and garlic in food processor; pulse until blended. 2. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin if desired. 3. If mixture is too thick, add a small amount of water.

Preparation for Chicken Satay: 1. Soak 16 wooden skewers in water. 2. Place shallots, garlic, coconut milk, lime juice, honey, cilantro, cumin, and turmeric in blender; cover. Blend until smooth. 3. Place chicken is a glass dish. Top with marinade; mix well to blend. Marinate, covered, in refrigerator for 2 hours. 4. Preheat grill or broiler on high. 5. Place 2 to 3 pieces of chicken on each skewer. 6. Grill or broil skewers for 5 to 6 minutes, turning every 2 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle, and juices run clear.

Preparation: 1. Combine soy sauce, water, ginger, garlic, and honey in a medium bowl; whisk to blend. 2. Add salmon; toss gently to coat. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour. 3. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. 4. Place salmon in an even layer in saucepan; cook for 2 minutes, turn each salmon cube, cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or until salmon flakes easily when tested with a fork. 5. Place salmon on a serving plate. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onion (if desired). Place a toothpick in each piece of salmon.

Preparation: 1. Heat oven to 375° F. 2. Combine eggs and milk in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper if desired; whisk to blend. Set aside. 3. Lightly coat a twelve cup muffin tin with spray. 4. Evenly place onion, bell peppers, ham, and cheese into muffin cups. 5. Evenly pour egg mixture over onion mixture in cups. 6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of quiche comes out clean.

Preparation: 1. Heat oven to 400° F. 2. Place sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil; toss gently to coat. 3. Season with chili powder and salt; toss gently to coat. 4. Spread potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 5. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning once, until brown and tender. 6. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Sweat Sync is a tool to motivate fitness seekers and encourage them to maintain their fitness routines through a social platform. Through this platform, you will be able to see friend’s fitness activity, plan workout meet-ups, compare fitness ‘scorecards’ and find other fitness enthusiasts who share the same fitness interests. In addition, you will still be able to search for fitness entities through FitMapped. The goal is to help you stay motivated and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The concept is available to residents of NYC, LA, Chicago and Boston, and NOW PHILADELPHIA!

Write reviews to help spread the word about your favorite place to sweat! Then read the reviews your friends write!

I can't wait for everyone to create a profile, tell us where you sweat, and start planning your sweat sessions with your social circle. Don't forget to add me as a friend! Research demonstrates that social support is a strong indicator in helping people achieve long-term weight loss or weight maintenance.

Is your favorite place to sweat not listed on FitMapped? Comment below and we'll get it added ASAP!

Now there's a program that makes losing weight so simple and easy to follow, you'll never have to diet again! Introducing 21 Day Fix, the latest breakthrough from Beachbody®.

What is 21 Day Fix?

The 21 Day Fix program takes the guesswork out of weight loss. It's a unique portion-control system combined with easy-to-follow workouts that fit into anyone's busy schedule. Trainer Autumn Calabrese shares her passion for food and fitness as she shows you how to make simple choices that add up to life-changing results.

Who is Autumn Calabrese?

Autumn Calabrese is a celebrity fitness trainer and national-level bikini competitor. A rising star in the fitness community, she's made a name for herself by helping people lose weight and get fit through simple portion control and consistent exercise.

Autumn holds personal training certificates from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and the American Fitness Professionals & Associates (AFPA). Her supportive, motivating style has made her a highly sought-after expert among celebrities and the fitness industry.

Building on a foundation of good food choices and exercise habits, Autumn empowers her clients to reach their goals in a healthy, sustainable way. In addition to her celebrity clientele, Autumn is the fitness specialist for ModernMom.com. Her workouts have been featured in C magazine, LA Parent, The Palisadian-Post, and Daily Candy, and on TV shows like Home & Family. With a passionate, entrepreneurial spirit, Autumn is the perfect addition to the Beachbody family of trainers.

The 21 Day FIX Program that focuses on a 21 day Nutrition meal plan to follow with PORTION CONTROL TOOLS to get it right, it also includes a awesome 30 minute cross training exercise program. The 21 Day Fix comes out THIS FEBRUARY! E-mail me or comment below to get on the mailing list for more information!

This weekend, I'll be saying goodbye to the year 30! It has been a great year for me both professionally and personally, but I have a feeling 31 is going to be just as great! I put together this workout to share with you as a tribute to my 30th year. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Notes about this workout:

Some of the moves in this workout are high-impact. Please feel free to modify the workout to make them low-impact if necessary.

If you're unsure about any of the movements, check out the videos linked to the name of the exercise or google them before you start the workout. You don't want to lose momentum, stopping after every exercise to look up how to do them.

This workout is designed as a circuit. Do each exercise in completion (30, 20 or 10), before moving on to the next. When you finish the circuit, go back and do it again, so that you do each circuit for 4 (beginner), 5 (intermediate) or 6 (advanced) minutes.

Circuit 4

It's time for another round of "what's playing on my iPod! Check out these tunes straight off my brand new 2014 running playlist! I'm still rocking my Fall 2013 playlist too - I can't get enough of Katy Perry's Roar!

If you've read my 'about me' page, you know that during the day, I am a bioengineer. I'm currently doing work on magnetic targeted endothelial cell delivery to stented arteries. During the day, I read journal articles, culture cells, analyze tissue and write up my findings in the form of manuscripts and grants, so I can get more money to keep doing what I'm doing. At night, I teach group exercise classes. It's a nice change of pace, and in most ways, completely different from what I do during the day. But every once in a while, my two worlds collide, and I can use my training as a scientist to take a look at the world of health and fitness.

To give you a little background, I don't follow a specific "diet". I try to make the best choices for myself, my health and fitness goals, and that might be different than the choices you make for yourself. In general, I'm not against "diets" - if you find something that works for you, I'd encourage you to stick with it. If you tell me you feel better and hit your goal weight by removing gluten from your diet - excellent! If you tell me dairy makes you feel bloated, then don't eat it! If you tell me that you eat 2 pounds of butternut squash to carb-load for your long runs while marathon training, so be it (oh, wait, that's me)! So when people ask me about the Paleo Diet, the only advice I have is to give it a try if you're interested. If you're goal is losing weight, you'll know relatively quickly if it's working for you. But, if your goal is to prevent heart disease, well, you may never know if it's "working".

Over the weekend, I came across a twitter post linking me to this article by Chris Kresser on MindBodyGreen. The title of the article is, "5 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Paleo". Since I do like to educate myself on the current health and fitness trends, and I admittedly don't know everything about the Paleo Diet, I wanted to read on. I don't have much to say about #2 through #5 on the list, but #1 struck a nerve with me.

Myth #1: "Our Paleolithic ancestors all died before they were 30."

Critics of Paleo often proclaim: “Why should we emulate the diet of our ancestors when they all died before they were 30?” While it’s true that the lifespans of our Paleolithic forebears were shorter on average than our lifespans today, those averages don’t consider significant challenges those ancestors faced that are largely absent from our modern lives. These include high rates of infant mortality, tribal warfare and violence, exposure to the elements, and lack of emergency medical care.Studies show that when these challenges are taken into account, our ancestors (as well as contemporary hunter-gatherers) lived lifespans roughly equivalent to our own. But more important, they reached these ages without developing any of the chronic, inflammatory diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease or autoimmune disease that plague us today.

I didn't read the referenced study word for word, but I read it enough to know that the study is referring to "modal age", where a year is not the time it takes for the earth to circle the sun. It's an "age equivalent". So to say that our hunter/gatherer ancestors lived to the same age as we are living today is a little misleading. Also, in addition to a decreased rate in infant mortality, tribal warfare and violence, etc., we also have EXTREME lifestyle and environmental differences, when compared to our ancestors, making it difficult to isolate any specific reason for a change in disease prevalence. Furthermore, our knowledge today on chronic, inflammatory diseases is MUCH more than it was "back then", and to say that we can get a complete medical profile from our ancestors' remains is an insult to current medical research.

I think most people are in agreement that genetics play a large role in the development of some diseases. Let's not forget that our genetics have been shaped by our ancestors. Who's to say that the very diet our ancestors lived off of altered our genetics in such a way to make us more susceptible to certain diseases? It's a little "out on a limb", but the point I'm trying to make is that there is too much unknown to really draw any solid conclusions.

Do I think that switching from a "typical American diet" to the Paleo Diet can improve your health? Absolutely! There are a lot of really great things about the Paleo Diet, and I agree that your diet plays a huge role in your overall health. But, I'm not so quick to agree that wheat and dairy are the direct cause of chronic, inflammatory diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and autoimmune diseases. I think we're making a lot of progress in figuring out how to best nourish our bodies, and it seems like the even the USDA is making changes in their recommendations. But, at the end of the day, it's probably best to take everything you read with a grain of salt (although not literally, because salt is bad for you, right?).

So what does FitYaf recommend?

Eat what makes you feel good

Don't eat what makes you feel bad

Move every day

Don't eat to the point where you're uncomfortably full

Anything beyond that depends on your goals, your personal situation and your genetics. But don't just believe me because you read it here - educate yourself! And Chris, no hard feelings - you are inspiring SO many people to get healthy! Keep at it!

Melissa and I met when we were both participating on a dance team in Pittsburgh almost 10 years ago. We haven't seen each other in a while, but thanks to social media, we've kept in touch. Melissa now runs her own blog and YouTube channel which features full length workout videos. Her workouts are amazing and great for all levels! If you haven't checked out her videos, you're missing out! Give them a try - most of them don't even require any equipment! Thanks Melissa for sharing your story with us!

It started with a blog...

My fitness blog started in grad school. Graduate school was hard, and stressful. Jesse (my husband and blog videographer) and I went to grad school together, and we lived off campus. Our commute typically took us 1.5 hours each way. Our class schedule was equivalent to a full time job, before factoring in homework and reading assignments. Jesse and I also worked part time at a restaurant so time was short, and we were very busy.

Prior to starting graduate school, I was enrolled in a yoga certification program, teaching yoga 5X per week, and running with Jesse. I found that I really missed teaching. Sometimes in between classes I would teach yoga to our classmates in the park across the street, or even in the hallway outside of our classroom.

I was also experimenting with new workout styles. Running and yoga both take a lot of time, which I was very short on. Soon I was teaching these new workouts to my classmates, and I found that when I was teaching I felt much happier and more fulfilled.

At the same time I was getting more and more questions about what I did to stay in shape. When people found out that I didn't workout in a gym they were perplexed. How was I staying in that kind of shape at home and without lifting weights?My background in yoga had helped me form a very holistic view of creating strength and balance in the body. In graduate school we had a wonderful anatomy teacher that expected us to do more than memorize muscles and planes of movement. We were required to understand the functional movements of each muscle, and which activities and motions would be limited if these muscles were weakened or paralyzed. We also learned which muscles were activated when moving your body through different planes and the biomechanics impact of inefficient movement patterns. We physically saw these muscles in our cadaver lab courses, which was very mentally and emotionally challenging for me, but expanded my understanding and appreciation of the human body.

Throughout this process, my workouts and my body were changing, and people continued to ask about my workouts. My passion for wellness was also being further cultivated in my courses as I learned how many diseases and illness processes could be prevented through healthy lifestyle changes. It occurred to me that many people didn't know what they could do to improve their health and fitness at home. So many people think that exercise only occurs in a gym, and it takes hours each day to get in shape.

As we entered our second year of graduate school, I was feeling tired. I knew that I needed to do something that was not school or work related for the pure pleasure of the pursuit. I wanted to help people on a larger scale, and share something that I loved and was passionate about. I wanted to right an occupational injustice that occurs when people think it takes a lot of time and money to be fit and healthy. Everyone has the right to a healthy and fit lifestyle, and that should be free. There is a lot of talk about prevention and wellness programs, but it is an emerging area. A lot of wellness programs have a mission, but they lack a method of sharing that mission on a large scale. I turned to my blog and youtube channel and I started sharing my workouts in the hopes of showing people that they could do this at home.

I started my blog in 2011, and since that time I have shared every workout that I do to get in shape and stay in shape. As of the time that I am writing this, that is over 450 different free home workout videos. I started my blog out of a passion for fitness, and I continued to share that love. I have been amazed at the response I have gotten throughout this process. Some people don't understand why I spend so much time blogging, but for me it is very rewarding. To see people make positive changes in their lives, their health, and their self perception is an amazing thing. I believe that fitness helps improve the quality of your life, your health, and your future. When people send me pictures of their results, or of themselves doing my workouts with their families I feel that I am making a positive impact on people's lives.

I am thrilled at the success my blog has experienced thus far. If you are a blogger, fitness or otherwise, my advice to you is to share something you love. Share something and be consistent. If your blog is driven solely by increasing your views it may be time to rectify your approach. Drive your blog by creating content that you are passionate about and offer your readers something that will benefit them.If you want to spice up your workouts and try something new you can join me at www.BenderFitness.comThank you for taking the time to read this, and a special thank you to Jillian for asking me to share my story.Have a great day!Melissa Bender

We're 10 days into 2014, and goals and resolutions are still fresh on everyone's minds! In the spirit of '14, I've put together a brand new Fitness Friday workout for you!

Notes about this workout:

Some of the moves in this workout are high-impact. Please feel free to modify the workout to make them low-impact if necessary.

Go through the workout twice for a full 30-minute workout

Be sure to stretch at the end of the workout. Check out some post-workout stretches from Health.com.

If you're unsure about any of the movements, check out the videos linked to the name of the exercise or google them before you start the workout. You want to be able to do this workout all the way through without stopping to look something up.

Cardio - 14 minutes

Choose your favorite cardio workout:

running

walking on an incline

power walking

spinning

rowing

stair climbing

The '14's

Push ups

Squats

Lunges - 14 on each side

I recently started working with a company called FiTMAPPED, which is a comprehensive, fully searchable directory of fitness studios and gyms in NYC, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles, and NOW Philadelphia! I'm so excited to be involved with such a great community and help them get the word out about different options for keeping up with your fitness. Part of what I'm working on is putting Philly gyms - big and small - on the "fit map".

What better way to learn about gyms than to try them out on my own! My first stop on my Philly Phitness tour (see what I did there?) was Unite Fitness at 12th and Sansom, right in Center City. I've been wanting to try out this gym ever since I befriended Anne Marie Everhart on Twitter while training for the Philadelphia Marathon. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take Anne Marie's class, but I rallied up some of my favorite fitness friends and signed up for Juliet's class the day after Christmas. The class is designed so that you spend 25 minutes in the cardio room where you can choose from the stationary bike, treadmill or rowing machine, 5 minutes stretching, 30 minutes strength training, where this particular class featured exercises for your legs, back and biceps, and 15 minutes of yoga/stretching. At the end of the class, we'll have worked out heart, muscle and mind!

My friends and I chose the treadmill for our cardio workout, where we alternated between different levels of sprinting and hill work. While I often do speed work on my own, I never do hill work, especially on a treadmill. Although I KNOW the benefits of the hill work, I always choose something else to do instead. I really like how I was challenged throughout the 25 minutes - whether you're trying to burn calories to lose weight or take time off your next marathon, these types of workouts are going to help!

After some light stretching, we moved into another room, where we worked our legs, back and biceps. The workouts were setup in circuits, where we tried to see how many rounds of each circuit we could do in a predetermined amount of time. This part of the class seemed to move quickly, and before I knew it, we were on to yoga. I generally don't love yoga, but it was basic and quick, and just what I needed to stretch after my hour-long workout.

In general, I don't love it when the instructor for the class doesn't do the workout with the class, but I do understand that often in these small studios, instructors are teaching more than once class per day, and it would be impossible for them to do every class. After class, Juliet was happy to talk to us about membership and class-pack options, and also showed us how to use resistance bands to help with pull-up training! I have never used them before, but can totally see how helpful they can be! The studio even has lockers for you to use to keep your stuff safe during class! Overall, I had a great workout and I look forward to going back. I like the concept of the workout - it really touches on so many pieces of effective movement. While I wouldn't benefit from a membership, since I can realistically only make it there about once/week, I think it'd be a great option for anyone who needs a little push to help meet their goals! There are different programs you can sign up for, both nutrition- and exercise-based too!

There is also a location in Mount Laurel, NJ, and rumor has it there will be more popping up soon!